


Stay With Me

by pastelwitchling



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: M/M, Malex, Marriage, Proposals, forlex, malex happily ever after
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28584921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelwitchling/pseuds/pastelwitchling
Summary: This is my second and final Malex Happily Ever After fic. The first chapter was initially chapter 218 in my one-shot collection; Alex goes to talk to Michael after he finds out about Forrest's proposal. The second chapter is the happy malex ending.
Relationships: Forrest Long/Alex Manes, Michael Guerin & Alex Manes, Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 21
Kudos: 102





	1. Marry Me

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who voted on tumblr, I hope these small happy endings are satisfying.

Alex sat with his back against the airstream door, his hand resting on his thigh, the silver band glistening on his finger. His lips tugged into a smile at the thought of Forrest’s face when he’d proposed with it, but the smile fell apart in the same second as he thought about the man hiding out behind him.

Alex reached up and knocked on the door. “You’re gonna have to face me sooner or later.”

He listened closely for any rustling, footsteps, bottles clanking, and was met with nothing. Michael’s expression when he’d found out about the proposal – the way he’d stood frozen to a stop at their table when Alex had told Kyle, unable to hold it in any longer – haunted him, playing on repeat in his head no matter how many times he silently begged it to stop.

He had nothing to be ashamed of, he knew, and yet…

“Guerin,” he tried knocking again, the afternoon sun beating down on him. Alex had been sitting out here since this morning, having followed Michael to his airstream in an attempt to get him to _listen_ , but the cowboy didn’t want to hear it, and Alex didn’t want to leave, so now they were just _here_ , each waiting the other out. But Michael was at a disadvantage.

“You know I’m military, right?” Alex said. “I’ve had training harder than this. I can be here all month if I need to be. _Longer_.” Alex knocked on the door again, harder. _“Michael!”_

No response. Alex sighed, twirling the ring on his finger as he’d tended to do after about hour three, when he got thirsty and realized he didn’t dare move in case Michael tried to leave without him and knew he’d needed a distraction. He was starving now, but his legs wouldn’t let him go, not while Michael was still inside, probably _purposely_ letting himself wither away.

Alex bit his lower lip, considering his engagement ring and how Michael’s eyes had fallen to it as if it was the evil snake that had bitten Alex and its poison had taken him away. Alex’s phone buzzed, and he was pulled out of his thoughts. It was a text from Forrest.

_Are you okay?_

Alex’s heart fluttered. He realized there was no need to lie about his answer or pretend he was something he wasn’t to please Forrest. His fiancé (Alex couldn’t _believe_ he got to use that word now – _fiancé_ ) would see right through him whether he was here or not.

_Worried about him. Do you trust me?_

The answer came not two seconds later. _Always. Do what you have to do._

Alex pressed the screen against his forehead, pretending the warmth was Forrest’s, drawing strength from it. _I love you,_ he texted back.

_I love you more,_ Forrest wrote and Alex tucked the phone away. He then took a bracing breath, pulled the engagement ring off his finger, and pocketed that, too, patting it down to make sure it was safe.

He stood and faced the door. “Guerin, come out.” Nothing. “We have to talk about this.”

The door suddenly burst open and Michael stepped out, his eyes red-rimmed. Alex, startled, realized that Michael had been crying.

“Why?” Michael snapped. “So you can tell me what I already know? You’re getting married to the weird Nazi dude with the blue hair – congrats.” His eyes fell, as if instinctively, to Alex’s finger. He scoffed, his eyes filling with tears. “Where is it? What’d you do, take it off so my feelings wouldn’t get hurt? Is it in your pocket?” He came closer, his entire body tense as if he was ready to either hit Alex or be hit by him. “Come on, take it out, put it on! PUT IT ON!”

“Guerin…”

“What do you want us to talk about, Alex?” he huffed, a tear sliding down his cheek before he roughly wiped it away. “You want to tell me that I don’t deserve you? That I messed up? That I could’ve had you and I got scared? That I wasted all my chances? Huh? You think I don’t know all of that? You think I don’t know how much you hate me for dating Maria? For telling her I loved her when I didn’t mean it? I know. I know ALL OF THAT!”

Alex wrapped his arms around Michael’s shoulders, hugging him tightly. The cowboy was trembling.

“Let me go,” he breathed. He was hyperventilating. “Let me go, Alex, LET ME GO!”

“Shh, _shh,”_ Alex tried, digging his fingers into Michael’s curls and holding him tighter, his own eyes burning. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, I’m here. I’m right here.”

“You hate me,” Michael said, his words starting to sound more like sobs. The ground, Alex realized too late, was shaking. “You don’t want to be with me.”

“I love you,” Alex whispered. “I love you so much, please, Guerin. Hold me, please, hold me.”

The earth stop rumbling and Alex soon felt Michael’s arms tentatively come around his waist, hugging him back. Alex pressed his face into the crook of Michael’s neck, inhaling his scent as Michael’s hold became unbearably tight.

“Please, don’t…” Michael choked on his sobs. “Don’t marry him. Marry me. I’ll – I’ll look after you, and I’ll love you –”

“I already love you so much, you stupid cowboy,” Alex huffed a miserable chuckle. He moved back, though Michael kept him close so that he couldn’t get far. Alex held Michael’s face in his hands, wiping away his tears with his thumbs. “Don’t you know how much I love you?”

Michael nodded and leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together. “Marry me.”

“We’d kill each other,” Alex said. “When have we _ever_ had a decent conversation that didn’t end in tears?”

“I won’t argue with you anymore,” Michael promised quickly. “I’ll – I’ll listen and I’ll do whatever you tell me to –”

“Don’t you _dare_ change,” Alex said fiercely. “I love you the way you are.”

“I’ll be good from now on.”

“You’ve always been good.”

“I’ll protect you.”

“I believe you.”

“I’ll be whatever you want me to, Alex,” he sobbed, apparently having searched Alex’s face and found his answer already. “I swear.”

Alex hugged him tightly, nuzzling the crook of his neck. He whispered, “I want you to be Michael Guerin.”

“But you don’t want to be with me.” When Alex didn’t answer, Michael held him back tighter. “Don’t leave me, Alex.”

“You’ll always have me, Guerin,” Alex promised. “Whenever you need me, I’m there.”

“I love you,” Michael whispered against Alex’s skin. “You know I love you.”

Alex nodded. “I know.”

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“You never will,” Alex said hoarsely. “We’re cosmic, remember? We’ll always be together, no matter what, no matter who we’re with. It’s you and me.”

Michael was silent for the longest time, then –

“You’re my soulmate, Alex,” he said. “I’ll never love anyone like I love you.”

Alex hugged him tighter, burying his face in Michael’s warmth, his heart hammering so painfully he worried it would jump out. The confession he made next was almost silent, but it existed in the space between them, for their hearts only.

“Neither will I.”


	2. Trust Me

Alex woke up next to Michael. They were lying in the small bed, facing one another. Michael had a protective arm curled around Alex’s waist, keeping their bodies close.

Michael murmured and leaned in. Even in sleep, he wasn’t pleased until he had their foreheads pressed roughly together. Alex let Michael hold him however he wanted. He reached up, cradling Michael’s jaw softly, his thumb caressing Michael’s cheek. He was warm, his stubble scratching Alex’s skin.

Michael suddenly turned, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to each of Alex’s fingers, his eyes fluttering open. Alex brushed a thumb across Michael’s lips, and Michael pulled him in deeper by his waist. Michael’s amber eyes fell to Alex’s lips, and he leaned in.

Alex stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Easy there, cowboy,” he whispered.

Michael swallowed, covering Alex’s hand with his own, and holding it over his heart. Alex felt Michael’s eagerness, echoing in his own chest.

“You stayed,” he said, half-hazed.

“I couldn’t leave you,” Alex said, and winced when Michael’s knee touched his own.

Michael looked down, frowning at Alex’s leg. “You’re still wearing your prosthetic?” He sat up, moving to undo it. “Private, you’re not supposed to keep that on for this long.”

“Leave it,” Alex said, sitting up. “I have to go anyway.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking the time. It was almost eight in the morning. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Damn it.”

He could feel Michael staring holes into the side of his face.

“You’re going back to him?”

Alex softened. He reached up to cup Michael’s jaw again. Michael’s eyes fluttered at the touch, and he held Alex’s wrist firmly in place.

“Don’t freak out,” Alex told him. “Okay?”

“I’m trying,” Michael said through grit teeth, his fingers trembling on Alex’s hand.

“I’m right here.”

“I want you to stay.”

“I can’t, Guerin.”

Michael opened his eyes, his amber eyes searching Alex’s. “I love you more than he does.”

Alex’s lips quirked in a half-smile. He brought his other arm around Michael’s shoulders and pulled him in against him.

“Shh,” he said softly into Michael’s curls as he held him. He tried for a light tone. “I love you, you know. A part of my heart will always belong to you. That doesn’t change because of who I’m with.”

“I want all of you, Alex,” Michael said, moving to look Alex in the eyes. “Not a _part_. You and I have never worked like that. _Cosmic_ doesn’t work like that.”

Alex stared. “Why does cosmic only mean anything to you when _I’m_ the one that’s happy?”

He regretted the words as soon as they’d left his lips. Michael looked like he’d been slapped.

“That – that’s not true –”

Alex stood. Michael’s hand fell to his, gripping it tightly as he stumbled out of bed behind him.

“Alex,” he tried, “that’s not –”

“I want to be good for someone, Guerin,” he said before he could stop himself. Michael froze, the familiar words echoing in the small space between them. He knew he sounded desperate, but he _needed_ Michael to hear him. He needed Michael to tell him it was okay. But Michael was already shaking his head.

“I think I can be really good for him,” he said, trying to hold Michael’s gaze. “I think he’s exactly what I need, and maybe if you just – _hey_.” He took Michael’s face in his hands, holding him still. He brushed a thumb across his cheekbone, and Michael’s eyes finally focused on him again.

“Hey,” he repeated more softly. “I love you. I’ll never love anybody like I love you.”

“Then _don’t leave me_.”

Alex shook his head. He couldn’t believe how badly he loved this man, how much he was willing to sacrifice, to _bleed_ for him. But there was too much darkness hanging over their heads, too many bad memories that threatened to become their realities again. As much as Alex loved Michael, he couldn’t risk being abandoned for someone else again.

“I used to be okay with it,” he said quietly. “Loving you more than you loved me.”

Michael stumbled back, his eyes on Alex wide. “I –”

“But I can’t do it anymore,” he breathed. “I’m _scared_ , Guerin. All the time. That you’ll like somebody else better.”

“That’s not going to happen!”

“It already did!” Michael stared, at a loss for words. Alex took a deep breath. “It already did. And Forrest –”

Michael looked away, his eyes shut tight, his jaw clenched. “Don’t say his name.”

“Forrest cares about me,” he said. “He’ll take good care of me, I _know_ it. Don’t you want that for me? Don’t you _want_ me to be happy?”

Michael gripped him suddenly. “I want that more than _anything_ ,” he said through grit teeth. “But _I_ want to be the one to make you happy. Not him.”

Alex’s eyes closed. He let his forehead fall onto Michael’s shoulder. Michael’s arms immediately engulfed him tightly.

“Stay with me, baby,” Michael whispered into his hair, against the shell of his ear. Alex felt Michael’s lips brush his neck. He gripped Michael’s shirt, just as desperate to hold on. He wanted to stay. More than anything. But he thought of Forrest and he knew he was better off with someone who fought for him, someone who _tried_ for him.

Slowly, he stepped back. “You’re only like this now because I’m getting married.”

Dread started visibly show itself in Michael’s face as he shook his head. “No, Alex, _no_ , please, I’m not –”

“Until I accepted his proposal, you wouldn’t even look at me.”

“But you know I wanted to talk to you –”

“But you _didn’t_ ,” Alex said, “and that’s my point.” He rubbed his face, breathed deeply into his palms, bracing himself. “Listen. I hope you can make it to the wedding –”

“No, _no_!”

“But I’ll understand if you can’t.”

“No, wait!” he ran around Alex to stop him at the door. “Wait, remember what I said? I said _I’d_ marry you! I’ll marry you, Alex, and we can be together, and –”

“I don’t trust you,” Alex said quietly, and Michael fell silent. “I’m sorry, Guerin, I don’t trust you.”

Michael stood frozen, but Alex was already moving past him and out the door. He got into his car, thinking of Forrest waiting back at their home, a comforting reassurance. As he pulled out of the driveway, he wished, more than anything, that the idea of a home with Forrest would be enough to help him forget.

Alex woke to Forrest’s kisses against the side of his neck and down his shoulder. His lips quirked up into a small smile, and he curled deeper into his pillow as he felt the historian’s fingers raking through his hair. He hummed, content.

“Feel good?” Forrest’s deep voice sounded in his ear, and Alex bit his lower lip.

“Yeah,” he breathed. This was what he’d needed. A safe comfort, a warmth that he knew would always be there.

An image of Michael flashed in his mind, lying here and holding him tightly. He shut his eyes and wrapped an arm around Forrest’s waist, pulling him in against him. He groaned into Forrest’s chest before he could help it. His fiancé’s laughter did little to erase Michael from his mind.

“How was it yesterday?” he whispered.

Alex looked up, ashamed at the memory of how close he’d come to Michael, how tightly he’d held on. And still, nothing about Forrest’s expression indicated any anger or suspicion.

Alex’s brows furrowed as he searched Forrest’s face, and the question escaped his lips, “You know, don’t you?”

Forrest scoffed, and moved to lie down next to Alex on his back. “How much you love him? You may be trained military, Alex, but I guess some things are beyond even _your_ control.”

Alex swallowed around the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry.”

Forrest shrugged a shoulder. “I knew what I was getting into. Honestly, I never even thought we’d make it _this_ far.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean . . .” Forrest turned his head to look at him, his smile unbearably fond and sad, “I’m taking that ticket to New York by myself.”

“No,” Alex said. He hadn’t even realized that his eyes had filled with tears until one fell down the bridge of his nose as he sat up. “ _No_ , Forrest, I said I’d marry you! D-Don’t you want to marry me?”

Forrest sat up, and cupped Alex’s jaw. He leaned in and kissed his cheek. When he pulled back again to look at him, his eyes were dark and his whisper fierce. “More than anything,” he promised.

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Because I love you like you love him,” he confessed, and Alex stilled. “And I don’t want you to force yourself to do this.”

“I’m not forcing anything!” he insisted.

“Alex,” he breathed, shaking his head. “Look me in the eyes. Tell me you want to marry me more than anything else.”

Alex faltered. Forrest’s dark eyes pierced his own, begging for the truth. In the end, Alex couldn’t lie. When he spoke again, a terrifying truth came out. “He’s never going to love me like you do.”

And for a second, Alex saw a sharp protectiveness in Forrest’s eyes, as if unwilling to let him go. But then something softened and he leaned in, kissing Alex’s forehead softly.

“He already does.”

*

Michael gripped his steering wheel tightly. He’d been parked behind the trees outside Alex’s house the past two hours, waiting. For what, he didn’t know. But he needed to be close to Alex, to keep trying. He knew now that Alex loved him more than anybody else, and he couldn’t let go of the hope that he could keep him.

But he would have to get out of the truck first. He took a deep breath, braced himself, and stepped out. He had no idea what he would say, but he imagined himself ending up in a fistfight with Forrest in Alex’s backyard. He was more than willing to go there if it came down to it. He stood on Alex’s porch, raised his fist to knock without a single idea as to how to start. Then Alex suddenly opened the door.

Michael jumped, startled, but Alex, ever the trained military captain, only stood there, his brow slightly raised. Michael opened and closed his mouth on several silent sentences. Alex’s eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, his hair was a mess, and his shoulders were slumped wearily. Michael tried to ask what was wrong, but Alex, clearly unimpressed, walked out past him.

“What do you want, Guerin?”

Michael looked between Alex and his hallway, expecting Forrest to appear, but even the historian’s car was nowhere in sight. Michael hurried after Alex.

“You were crying,” he said. “Why were you crying?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Alex, _hey_ ,” he grabbed Alex’s arm only for it to be snatched away. Michael flinched, trying not to feel hurt. “A-Alex . . .”

Alex didn’t respond as he gathered some firewood from the pile behind his house. As he straightened again, Michael tried reaching for him.

“Alex, did something happen to – to Forrest –”

“ _Don’t touch me_!” Alex moved away, his voice cracking. “Don’t come near me again!”

“B-But why –”

“I should’ve let you stay miserable in that airstream, I shouldn’t have cared how you felt!” He shook his head. “Forrest called off the engagement because he knew how much I loved you. The second I left him to check on you, he’d given up on me. I never should’ve gone to the junkyard, but like an _idiot_ , I kept choosing you! And look where it’s gotten me!”

“Alex . . .”

“Just leave me alone, _please_!”

“Wait,” he breathed. “W-Wait, Forrest left? He’s gone?”

Alex stopped and turned to glare at him. “I _swear_ –”

Michael closed the distance between them, taking Alex’s face in his hands and crashing their mouths together.

“G-Get – _mmh_ ,” Alex tried, but Michael kissed him again, pushing him against the side of his house and making him drop his logs. “W-What’re you –”

“Marry me,” he breathed. “Marry me, Alex.”

Alex frowned, shaking his head. A tear fell down his cheek and Michael’s heart broke. This was how miserable Alex had been, and he hadn’t noticed. _How_ could he have not noticed?

“Why are you doing this?” Alex asked, his voice hoarse. “Forrest is _gone_ , didn’t you hear me? I choose you every time, you don’t have to be scared anymore, there’s no reason to do this!”

Michael covered Alex’s mouth with his own, moaning against his lips. “I want to marry you, Alex,” he said, giggling half-hysterically. “I want to wake up next to you and have sex all day and take you to dinner and hold your hand.” He kissed each of Alex’s fingers, and held them against his jaw. “And I want everyone to see my ring on your hand and know you belong to _me_. I don’t want anybody else to ever even _think_ they have a chance with you.”

He pressed Alex against the wall and kissed him again. He pulled back, the both of them panting against one another’s lips. “Marry me, Alex. I’ll make you happy, I’ll spend my whole life trying to make you happy. _Marry me_.”

Alex searched Michael’s face, another tear falling as his angry mask revealed what was truly underneath; heartbreak and fear.

His lower lip trembled. “No.”

Michael faltered. “W-What?”

“I don’t – I can’t,” he shook his head at the same time that he gripped Michael’s jacket, keeping him close. “You really want to marry me?”

He huffed a helpless chuckle. Wasn’t it obvious? “More than anything.”

He inhaled shakily. “Really?”

A sob escaped Michael’s smile as he leaned in, pressing their foreheads together. “Please marry me, Alex.”

A minute passed. Two. Then –

“Not yet,” he said, and Michael pulled back. Alex was smiling, afraid and in love. “Not like this.”

Michael held his breath, moving unbearably close, his grip painful but he was unable and unwilling to let go. “Then I’ll ask you again tonight.”

“Tomorrow,” Alex said, and kissed Michael’s lips. “Tonight, I want you to just stay with me.”

Michael closed his eyes, finally able, for the first time in years, to breathe.

“Tomorrow,” he quietly promised into the space between them. “But you’re already mine, Private. You’re all mine.”

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](https://pastelwitchling.tumblr.com/)


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